4 Opinion Page 8 Friday, July 10, 1981 The Michigan Daily The Michigan Daily Vol. XCI, No. 37-S Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Time for a full investigation W HILE THE FACTS surrounding the death of former University student Chen Wen-Chen remain vague and confused, there is clearly a need for a full investigation into the dubious circumstances. Chen, an accomplished and highly respected student at the University, who received his Ph.D. in statistics in 1978, was found dead in Taipei, Taiwan on July 3. Earlier that day, he had met with high-level security officials of the Taiwan government-namely, with Gen. Wang Chin-Hsi of the Taiwan Garrison Command. The talk, a six-hour interrogation, was described as "friendly and cordial" by Gen. Chin-Hsi and involved Chen's previous ac- tivities in support of the anti-Nationalist gover- nment movement. He was reportedly escorted back to his apartment, and was found dead 12 hours later, presumably after falling from the roof of a tall building in the city. His wife and child apparently remain under house arrest in Taipei (although this has not been clearly established), and the most im- mediate concern now is their safety. But a much larger issue may be at stake here, and a full-fledged investigation into Chen's death is essential. American hands are tied in any such investigation, as the case is officially an inter- nal Taiwanese matter, off limits to any outside scrutiny. P At the same time, however, University President Harold Shapiro-who has properly expressed concern over Chen's death, should clarify the role of Chen and other Taiwanese students on campus in past years. There is speculation that some students (other than Chen) are "secret agents" here and on other campuses, reporting on the "anti-government" activities of their compatriots to Taiwan. Richard Cyert, president of Carnegie-Mellon University, where Chen began his career as an assistant professor after graduation, and Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.) have both called for an in- vestigation, and President Shapiro should coordinate his efforts along with theirs. A similar situation occurred with a Univer- sity of Minnesota student, Rita Yeh, who was imprisoned earlier this year in Taiwan for "spreading Communist ideology in microfilm and notebooks." Her case should be included in a sweeping review of the Taiwanese gover- nment-student relations in this country. Accusations and speculation are not needed here.What is crucial is the truth, and efforts shouldtie Mad;inmela tey to indit.a k SOCI soCiIY SECUR~lY GL1c - E Pti vi -a tvttt N ttouricr-. ottntal p. h 0 0 O O 0 0 a 4 soclA SPERM soclA { SECUR11Y sociA THE L A TIMES SYNDICATE X w Sinking fund New federal budget is step in right direction 4 As it has since the American a leach, feeding off the life revolution, the debate over the juices of a healthy society while size of our government continues. producing absolutely nothing in In many ways, the new Reagan return. budget has become the modern The days are over when a representative of the battlefield major spending program on which the battle has always proposed by the government is been fought. called helpful to the economy. As everyone knows, the new Nobody believes that myth any budget calls for a decrease in the mor'e mainly because it has been vividly proven wrong in socialist Common c THE MORALITY of a big government is the most Sense provocative dilemma, and one that takes the most con- By Mark Gindin sideration. Under most judgement criteria, government amount of growth allowed the proves itself to be less of a good federal government. Some parts guy than most people suspect. of the budget actually call for a The original justification for decrease in spending for most of the programs the budget various sacred cow is attempting to plow under was programs. The proposed originally based on a society's reductions have intensified the desire to rid itself of its own debate over big versus small ugliness. government. People opposed to the Reagan THE ARGUMENTS usually budget must necessarily be in produced by both sides stem from favor of selective theivery. Farm two main foundations: the social supports, aid to education, health morality of mega- government, care, social security, federal and its economic impact on the housing, jobs, transportation, population. Ultimately, the logic and subsidized food are all forms advocating powerful central of income redistribution by government crumbles when put government. Money is legally to the test of either. taken from one person and given The easiest of the two areas to to another, whom a third person expose is the burden placed on deems a more eedy recipient theeconom6iy by any government than tfg p wpo Who or ad for s ede. Clerb,go'veh enis it. ALTHOUGH MOST people assume so, it has never been proven that government does a better job at any of its pursuits than the market would have done by itself if left alone. Because the prevailing thinking requires government rid society of the ugliness, alter- natives have never been fully utilized or even considered lately. There are many free market solutions, both proven and theoretical, that are far more at- tractive than those now in use. The American constitution established the federal gover- nment only as a body to unite the state governments. Government in the new world was designed for only guaranteed protection of a citizen's will in regard to his life, liberty, and property. The Reagan budget is only an infinitely small step in this direc- tion-toward the eventual return to a government patterned after the one the designers had plan- ned. It may be finally considered a step in the right direction, that of less control and power. It took long enough, and let's hope the ideas and actions will snowball into an ideological cause behind which all freedom-lovers can rally. Mark Gindon, whose column appears erery Friday, is a Daily sfrerr 'r. - - 4 4 4